Mother, Fire Safety Advocate Lends Support to National Campus Fire Safety Month™ 2009

'I ask what value can they put on a human life and they have no answer'

08.10.2009 – There is not a day that goes by that Bonnie Woodruff doesn’t think about him. Whether it’s a certain song, the make of a car, or even the shape of a cloud - the reminders are everywhere.

“I can now look out my window at the beach and imagine that I can still see him sitting there calm and patient - so unlike how I feel most of the time,” Ms. Woodruff says. “It was such a peaceful, private time for him and I always wondered what he was thinking as he sat and waited patiently for a wave big enough to surf.”

It’s been 13 years since Ms. Woodruff’s son Ben, along with four other University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill students, were killed in a tragic fraternity house fire in 1996. It was Mother’s Day.

It’s also been 13 years that Ms. Woodruff has spent tirelessly pushing colleges, cities, states and Congress to strengthen fire safety laws. Ms. Woodruff is sharing her story and lending her support for National Campus Fire Safety Month 2009 - set to launch in Washington, DC, on September 17, 2009.

Ms. Woodruff will join more than 100 students, families, administrators and firefighters to meet with Congress to encourage schools and cities across the country to improve fire safety laws.

With an estimated 18 million students currently attending colleges and universities nationwide, knowing the steps on how to prevent or escape a fire can be lifesaving. And getting this information into the hands - and into the heads - of students, parents, landlords and the schools is as critical as ever, Ms. Woodruff says.

“All students think they are invincible and that they will never get burned or that they will have time to ‘get out’,” Ms. Woodruff says. “Fire is for real and it can kill them or it can mar or disfigure them for life. It is physically very painful to be the victim and survivor of a fire. There were three survivors in the fire where my son died and all three have physical and psychological damage.”

While progress has been made, Ms. Woodruff says losing one more life is just too many.

“Most landlords will rent to as many as they can and these students live in major fire hazard houses and they also are very lax in upkeep including fire safety,” Ms. Woodruff says. “Administrators are also guilty of looking only at the bottom-line instead of making all university housing safe from fires. I always ask them what value can they put on a human life and they have no answer.”

Now in its fifth year, National Campus Fire Safety Month has provided an opportunity for schools and communities across the nation during September to educate students about the dangers of fire and their role in creating a fire-safe environment. This effort is being led by a coalition of campus fire safety organizations that includes Campus Firewatch (www.campus-firewatch.com), the Ohio Fire Safety Coalition (www.ohiofsc.org), and the Congressional Fire Services Institute (www.cfsi.org) along with numerous supporting organizations.

Since January 2000, 134 students have died in campus related fires, according to statistics compiled by Campus Firewatch. Over 80 percent of those deaths were in off campus housing. Four common factors in these deadly fires were a lack of automatic fire sprinklers, missing or disabled smoke alarms, careless disposal of smoking materials and impaired judgment from alcohol consumption.

“The value of National Campus Fire Safety Month comes from everyone joining together, both in Washington and across the nation, to make students, parents, schools and communities aware of the importance of fire safety on our campuses,” said Ed Comeau, publisher of Campus Firewatch. “By working together we can teach students what they need to protect themselves, not only for the time that they are in school but for the rest of their lives. As this year''s motto says, ‘Fire Safety - It’s Part of Living.’”

National Campus Fire Safety Month started in 2005 with a handful of states issuing proclamations. It has since grown to 32 states issuing proclamations along with resolutions being passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Eight states have issued proclamations already in 2009 and resolutions have been introduced in the 111th Congress.

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News Facts

An estimated 18 million students currently attending colleges and universities nationwide
Since January 2000, 134 students have died in campus related fires, according to statistics compiled by Campus Firewatch.
Over 80 percent of deaths were in off campus housing.
Four common factors in these deadly fires were a lack of automatic fire sprinklers, missing or disabled smoke alarms, careless disposal of smoking materials and impaired judgment from alcohol consumption.
14 States have issues proclamations declaring September National Campus Fire Safety Month.